Every day, new and innovative tech products and services come out of Silicon Valley. Now is a good time to look at how Web3 is changing the real estate business. From cryptocurrencies to virtual reality to the Metaverse, Web3 is changing how we all interact with each other online, including how we market, buy and sell real estate. It’s time to take stock and see how blockchain will affect home prices on your block.
Even though there hasn’t been a clear “killer app” for Web3, brokers have started using new tools to connect with customers through their smart devices. This was especially helpful when the pandemic made it hard to meet in person. Behind the scenes, chatbots and SEO make marketing more effective, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) platforms let clients tour a property without leaving the comfort of their own homes. Here are a few ways that brokers have found to use Web3 technology, which is still new.
From trouble comes a chance.
One of the first ways Web3 tech was used in real estate was because of the precautions taken during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep people from getting too close to each other. When it became dangerous to show homes in person, many companies switched to AR/VR platforms that let potential buyers “walk through” a unit virtually.
UNIVERS is made by Serhant.
Ryan Serhant, a reality TV broker, said that his company is moving into the Metaverse with UNIVERS, a virtual world where his agents will be able to “attend meetings, grow their teams, meet with our employees, interact with clients, perform workflow, and, eventually, show properties.” This is part of his company’s effort to become a mobile-first brokerage. Serhant thinks that UNIVERS is part of a big change in how brokers will work with their clients since many of them would rather do business only on their devices blogs.
Non-Fungible Tokens Get Real
In one of the most interesting ways Web3 technology has been used in real estate, brokers have been looking into ways to speed up the long process of closing on a property by using cryptographically secure digital wallets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Forbes wrote about a test case where the Silicon Valley firm Propy helped a client buy a home in Florida while he was on vacation in Texas. The seller and buyer used a real property NFT, which is essentially a unique token that represents ownership of the real property in the digital space. Even though they are still in their early stages, NFTs and smart contracts have the potential to create a completely new way to finance web3 real estate app development that doesn’t involve mortgage holders or lenders.
Everythingexplore day, cool new tech is being added to the real estate business, so it’s important to find a team that cares about staying current.